Pumpkin Bread with Millet & Chocolate

I love it when I'm at the market and I happen upon a new (to me) ingredient.  Something I'd heard of, sure...but never actually been able to get my hands on.  So, imagine my excitement when I happened upon millet in one of my market meanders.  I've been seeing millet used a lot lately, even though I know it's actually been around for ages.  As in 5,000 years or so.  This makes it one of the earliest cultivated grains.  Although its origins were in China, it has long been used in India, as well.

The funny thing is, as I studied the tiny little grains (round with a small speck on the side that sort of makes it look like a tiny bead), I had the oddest feeling that I actually had seen or used them before.  I knew it would eventually come to me, if only I could locate that file stashed away somewhere in the overflowing file cabinets lining my brain.  And then...OH!  Duh.  Of course.  I have seen them...held them even...many times before.  Where might that have been, you ask? 

photo credit: Lyrinda Snyderman via Gary Bogue 

Why yes, in the deer bird feeder of course!  Yes, I know that I need to do what I'm always telling my kids (and the hubs) to do- pay more attention!  Guilty.

Millet is easily digested, cooks quickly, and it's gluten-free.  Whether eaten hot as a breakfast cereal, used in place of rice or potatoes as a side dish, or added uncooked to crackers or breads, it's a fantastic addition to any pantry.  I think so, at least.  My inaugural millet celebration used the simplest technique: adding it dry to a quick bread.  I found it oddly good.  Like, I couldn't stop taking bites.  Basically because it was such a strange new sensation.  Crunchy like nuts...yet not nutty.  A bit "dry" and reminiscent of puffed rice...if that rice was extremely hard.  I realize that kind of makes it sound bad.  But really, it's not.  I'm just not sure how to describe it.  It definitely added interest and a pleasant crunch to this soft, moist bread.  

Pumpkin Bread w/ Millet & Chocolate

adapted from Joy the Baker 

makes 3 mini loaves (1 regular size loaf / ~16 muffins)*

4 oz. butter, melted

¾ c. dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 c.  pumpkin puree

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1¾ c. whole wheat flour

½ tsp. fine sea salt

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp.  ground ginger

⅛ tsp. ground cardamom

⅛ tsp. ground mace

good grating of nutmeg

½ c. dry millet

¼ c. buttermilk

½ c. dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325° F.  Grease 3 mini loaf tins and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, pureed pumpkin, and vanilla extract (I just use a fork, no biggie).

In a separate bowl, stir together flour, salt, baking soda, spices, and millet.

Add the dry ingredient to the wet ingredients.  Add the buttermilk and stir everything together.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  Just be careful not to over-mix as this tends to toughen up quick breads.

Divide batter evenly into prepared pans.  Lift each one a couple of inches off the counter and then drop back on the counter a few times to "settle" and level out the top.

Slide carefully into the preheated oven and bake for ~30-35 minutes (*time may be longer for one regular size loaf & shorter for muffins 10-15 minutes either way), or until a skewer/toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let rest for at least 15 minutes before serving.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  Bread will last, well wrapped at room temperature, for up to 3 days.

Can also be frozen successfully by sealing in a freezer-safe bag and stored in the freezer.

I am sharing this post with:

Pumpkiny Things... Pumpkin Apple Nut Bread and Pumpkin Banana Smoothies

I always get a little giddy when pumpkin time arrives.  Not that glorious canned pumpkin isn't available year-round, it's just that there's something in the air and the earth that screams squash once the air is cool and crisp and the leaves start changing colors and falling from the trees.  I even have an accidental pumpkin plant this year!  "Accidental" because it stems from last years pumpkin display ...and my laziness.  Do you ever do that?  Lay out a harvest or Autumn display in your yard somewhere.  Pumpkins, squash, gourds, Indian corn, dried corn stalks, mums...maybe a broom or a witch or a scarecrow...'tis the season, you know?  Well, I try to leave it up as long as possible.  This usually means until it starts to snow.  I've brought in any "reuseable" decorations, but left the "natural" ones outside.  They get covered in snow.  I usually have the drive to hang the corn in a small stump w/ branches that we have in the yard for the squirrels...and other random animals.  Occasionally I'll even get the rotting squash into the compost bin.  But not often.  The jack-o-lanterns all end up with day-glow speckled insides and eventually get lost under the snow with a few of the smaller squash.  They then make their own separate compost pile.  Which, come the following summer, will occasionally sprout a no-effort squash plant. Nice.

Pumpkin Apple Nut Bread

from the kitchen of girlichef

yield: 1 loaf

 ½ c. sugar

 ½ c. marigold honey (or regular)

 ½ c. oil

1 c. cooked pumpkin purée (or canned)

2 large eggs

1/3 c. water

 1 c. whole wheat flour

1 c. ap flour

1 tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground allspice

good grating fresh nutmeg

¼ tsp. ground cloves

½ c. dried apples, chopped

¼ c. walnuts, chopped

¼ c. pecans

Preheat oven to 300° F.  In a large bowl, mix together sugar, honey, oil, pumpkin, eggs and water.  In a separate bowl combine remaining ingredients, tossing the fruit and nuts well so they get coated with flour.  Mix dry ingredients gently into wet ingredients until just combined.  Spray a bundt pan or small-ish loaf pan with pan spray and pour in batter.  Bake for one hour, or until bread passes the toothpick test.

This bread is very moist and very easy to eat!  I like it best a little bit warm, but it's great at room temperature, too.  Share with drop-in guests...

Sometimes, when you're using canned pumpkin purée, you have a little bit left in the bottom of the can after using what you need in a recipe.  My favorite thing to do with that last bit of pumpkin is to throw it into a blender with some other good stuff and make a powerhouse smoothie for breakfast!

Pumpkin-Banana Smoothie
from the kitchen of girlichef
yield: ~2 large glasses

½ c. cooked pumpkin purée
½ c. yogurt (heaping)
1 large frozen banana
1¾ c. whole milk
honey, to taste
1 Tbs. Pumpkin Seeds + extra
1 tsp. wheat germ
1 tsp. ground flax seed
freshly grated nutmeg

Place everything in the blender and blend until smooth.  Pour into a glass and garnish w/ some extra pumpkin seeds and grated nutmeg.

It's about time for me to start my potential lazy garden for next year.  Hmmm...what would I like to be surprised with....

*This post is linked to:

Pumpkin Brioche CINNAMON ROLLS!!! You want one...doncha!?

There's no stoppin' me now! Me and the BBY are getting to know each other. And we like what we see. I even made cinnamon rolls that you didn't have to pop from a can first! Not that I'll totally shun that convenience, because yeast takes time...but I will definitely make them from scratch any chance I get! 

When I made the Pumpkin Pie Brioche dough last week as a part of the new baking group Healthy Bread in Five, I had half a recipe left in the fridge. After seeing many tempting variations on a plain loaf, I knew cinnamon rolls was the way I had to go. And guess what...it wasn't hard! In fact, it was heavenly. I love the feeling of the dough in my hands...the rolling of the pin...the slight resistance of the dough...perhaps I was a baker in a different life.

Pumpkin Brioche Cinnamon Rolls w/ Cinnamon Icing

(Pumpkin Pie Brioche dough from HBin5)

yield: 12 (big ones)

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Rolls:

½ recipe Pumpkin Pie Brioche dough

4 Tbs. butter, soft

2 handfuls brown sugar

cinnamon, as needed

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Cinnamon Icing:

2 Tbs. butter, melted

3 Tbs. milk

2 c. powdered sugar

¼ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. vanilla

Turn your dough out onto a floured surface. This dough is pretty wet, so pat it in a bit of flour, just so that you're able to work with it.

Shape it into a rectangle.

Roll out to about 1/4" thickness. I'm sorry, I forgot to actually measure the dimensions...but you can basically see in the photo to get an idea.

Rub the softened butter all over the top surface of the dough. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the butter and then sprinkle with cinnamon...as much as you'd like. I went fairly light since my icing has cinnamon in it.

With the long edge horizontal in front of you, begin rolling, jellyroll fashion.

Continue rolling, keeping it as tight as possible until you reach the end.

You should now have a thick log. Push it in at the ends a bit if it seems to thin out.

Using a lightly floured bench scraper, cut into 12 even slices. The easiest way is to cut in half, then quarters...then cut each quarter into 3 equal parts.

Place in a greased 13 x 9 pan and set in a warm place, loosely covered to rise for 90 minutes. It's going to seem like the pan is too big...but no worries.

Those BBY really get busy in this 90 minutes!! The original dough that didn't fill the pan...it's puffed right up and out and the rolls are now crowding each other. Nice! Place your pan in the center of a pre-heated 350° F oven and bake for ~18-22 minutes. But as ovens vary, use your eyes and your nose and touch 'em!!

While they're baking, mix up your icing. Simply place all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix them up! Set it aside until the rolls are ready.

You should be able to tell when they're done...even if you've only ever made the pop can kind! Take those babies out of the oven...

...and drizzle or spread with icing while still warm.

Pull one out...

...and enjoy.

Immensely!!!

If I can do it...you can do it! Now I wish they weren't all gone...because I want another one :)

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If you're interested in baking Healthy Bread in Five, please join us...just click on the button!

I made yeast bread...or Pumpkin Pie Brioche for HBin5!

I did it. I did it. I did it. Yay. Yo lo hice.... Seriously, I want to bust out in a Dora song!!! Remember scaredy cat me? You know, afraid of the big, bad yeasties? How long have I been telling you I'm just going to do it? Jump in. Make friends with BBY (big bad yeasty). I bit the bullet. Michelle of Big Black Dog has started a new group based on the new book by Jeff Hertzberg MD and Zoe Francois called Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day. It's called (fittingly) Healthy Bread in Five (or HBin5, as you'll see me refer to it from here on out). We're going to be...baking bread. Healthy bread. And I couldn't be more excited! Oh yes, I'll still visit my favorite bakeries to bask in that beautiful smell and tear into that warm bread....just not as often. Because I am conquering my fear. HBin5 officially starts at the beginning of 2010 to give people time to get through the craziness of the holidays and to purchase the book. But until then, we'll be baking a bonus recipe once a month! Never before published recipes from Zoe and Jeff...Novembers recipe being Pumpkin Pie Brioche. I can't give you the recipe because of copyright laws, but Michelle has permission to print it, so you can head over there to see it. But I'll show you how I accomplished step #1 in conquering my BBY fear...just doing it. A yeasted bread, baking in the oven is one of my most favorite scents in the whole wide world! And even though there is both pumpkin and spices in this bread...they are very understated. I smelled that heavenly scent after 10 minutes or so in the oven...and then tasted it in every bite. Goodbye BBY, hello homemade yeast bread!So, don't forget to follow that link for the recipe if you want to give it a try (you totally should). But I can't help but show you the process...you know me.... Those BBY were ready to taunt me, but I threw them in with the other ingredients without a second glance. I mixed the dry and added the wet. I put it in a container. And it rose! It really, really rose! Pretty, huh? I tore off a piece and I shaped it. And then I set it aside to rise again. And it rose! Again!! Woot, Woot! I prepped it for the oven and sat in a mix of anticipation and sensory ecstasy while it baked. And then the torture of letting it cool before cutting. But all worth it. All completely worth it. Beautiful plain.Beautiful toasted with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top. Want to join us for next months Bread Braid (HBin5 round-up, basically)? Head on over to sign up now! Simply click on the badge.....